If you are fitness minded, you probably read the magazines or watch the latest infomercials and follow the trends. Well, some trends are good and others are just a waste of time and money. Yet maximum results with minimal time and expenditure is what most of us are looking for.
If you are new to weight training or fitness enhancement, getting a personal trainer is always a good place to start. They will show you the ropes, give you a program for success, and make sure you know how and why you are doing things.
But be cautious and do some research on the qualifications and philosophy of the trainer you may hire. While there are certainly great benefits to using personal trainers, having one is no guarantee for success. Some are not up on the latest studies and methods, relying on the same old stuff. But a good trainer will use circuit training and cross training for maximum results. Here's how.
How to Maximize
Many trainers and fitness buffs will lift heavy weights then take long rests between sets. The theory is that the heavier the weight, the more muscle bulk will develop. And the longer the rest, the more repair has occurred to muscle tissue, which allows you to lift more in the next few sets. These extra reps and sets are thought to help burn more calories. Sounds good.
The problem is that this old-school method of weight training does not help cardiovascular health. There is very little benefit to lung and heart power. So now you will have to run the treadmill for those results. And this wastes time. And time is money, especially when paying a trainer!
Quality personal trainers will put into practice cutting edge methods of combining cardio, strength and flexibility training into single sessions while keeping the heart rate at optimal levels. I recommend wearing a heart rate monitor during the entire session, even when lifting weights. Why?
Because the best way to maximize time, energy and results is to work muscles, heart rate and lung capacity at the same time. In this way, you are not just resting for a few minutes to be able to do an additional rep of a weight set. On the contrary, it is your personal heart rate that dictates when to rest and when to begin again. And that time changes as your fitness level changes.
The goal of the workout is to give individual muscles a chance to rest while maintaining a consistently high heart rate. You will rest when your heart rate reaches 160 and then start up again when your heart rate drops to 130. (This varies per individual but is a good rule of thumb). This way your heart pumps more blood, you burn more calories through intensity, develop more endurance and leaner muscles.
A Streamlined Approach
When training a client, I will warm them up for 10 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer or stair master. To maximize time (to save them money and get the most out of each minute), I will review their personal nutritional journal with them during this period. We discuss diet, food combining, and ways to streamline their food habits for better results.
Next, I work them out for 45 minutes. To maximize results by controlling time, I pair up a machine and a manual exercise, like leg presses and dumbbell bicep curls. This method allows them to remain close to the machine and not "lose it" when the gym is crowded. I usually will have clients do three sets of each exercise and then move on to something else, like crunches and shoulder presses or leg curls and triceps extensions. In this way, one muscle rests while the other works. More importantly, the one thing that stays consistent during the exercise "switch" is the client's heart rate!
The workout is 55 minutes long. With a heart rate elevated for that period of time through resistance training, you receive cardiovascular benefit, strength, muscular endurance, toning and sculpting. It's also the biggest bang for your buck for anyone paying $65 or more per hour for a trainer.
The last 15 minutes of the session focuses on cooling down while stretching. Keeping muscles lean and limber is a huge part of health and wellness that is often neglected. It shouldn't be.
Equipment Matters
achieve-fitness.com/fitness_programs.htm Personal training often happens at the gym or in the home. And as a general rule, free weights offer better results than using weight machines. Really, the weight machines are for beginners or those too weak to use anything else. They are like training wheels and hold and guide proper position, without fear of the weights falling on you. But free weights not only increase the strength of the muscle being "worked," they also train other muscles that are used to stabilize the weights while also increasing overall balance and whole-body coordination. Free weights maximize time, effort and results.
For home fitness, the now popular fitness balls and bands can be used. The balls are perfect for strengthening the core muscles, which include the abdominals, obliques, lower back and hips. The bands are good for chest, back and arms. While these strength bands are great for women, they don't generally provide enough resistance for men. Free weights are the best options for men. For women, a small investment in Balls and Bands for home training can reap huge benefits.
Cross Training Is Key
Aside from circuit training, cross training is essential for overall fitness. I generally advise clients not to do the same type of exercise two days in a row, and to always mix things up.
I suggest things like weights and body-weight resistance training one day, biking or running the next day, and Bikram hot yoga or Pilates on another day. The idea is to keep the body guessing by putting the primary strain on different muscles in different ways each training day. These different strains place different emphasis and requirements on the heart, lungs and muscle fibers, as isometric happinesslifetime.com yoga training is different than range of motion weight lifting or martial art training.
In the end, the objective of any fitness program is to maximize effort and results while keeping a lid on time and money. The way to do this is by using a heart rate monitor, not resting between sets, using circuit training and mixing things up with cross training. Good luck
Dennys Passeto has been a certified Personal Trainer and owner of Achieve Fitness since 1998. Achieve Fitness services clients in Maryland, DC and Virginia in their home, work, gym and outdoors. They are the only company who guarantee results. Visit them at achieve-fitness.com achieve-fitness.com for a FREE personal training session.
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